Hush Little Baby
by PoemJunkie
Summary: COMPLETE Brennan and Shalimar start a relationship, and everything is going great until Lorna Templeton Deadly Desire shows up once again. BrennanShalimar
1. melting into you

Rockergurl; Haha! I finally got a story up! Kitta Cat; Too bad. Now you'll have the chance to corrupt these poor people's minds Rockergurl; I'm not going to CORRUPT them Kitta Cat! Jeez, it's just a story! Kitta Cat; A story? Well, that has yet to be proven. Rockergurl; OK, whatever. *turns to readers* Hey there! This is my first fanfiction EVER, so be kind. I have previously posted basically the same exact story on Mutantx.net, (under the SN MutantXFan1) and it got a good response so I thought I would try it here. I do not own the characters of Mutant X, but I do own any characters that you don't recognize because that'll mean that I invented them. Anyway. on with the story!  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
A/N SPOILER! If you have not seen "Deadly Desire" then you are going to be lost. If you have than you will remember Lorna Templeton, the scorpion feral who seduced Brennnan and then escaped Genomex. This is months after that happened. The timeline for this story is completely messed up. All of the team have their new powers (that they got in "A Breed Apart") so if you didn't see the final episode you're going to be confused on that part too. However Gabriel isn't in this story, Mason Eckhart is the villain. I'm sorry, but Mason is easier to write for. And since this IS months later, I'm assuming that Mason is out of the stasis pods and Gabriel is gone. OK? OK. Pairings; SHALIMAR/BRENNAN ALL THE WAY BABY!  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Brennan melted into her. She tasted so good! Kissing Shalimar was incredible, kisses didn't get more intense, and he should know-he had had his share of them. Something was screaming at him to stop, he didn't want to ruin the friendship that he had with her, he had never had many friends and here he was, doing something that could make him lose one of the few that he DID have. But. it felt so good. He didn't want to stop. He didn't know how it happened, it was just the two of them hanging around, and Shal on the computer and him 'helping' by standing around and asking if she was done yet. She had gotten ticked at him and he had been teasing her. What had happened after that? He couldn't really think, his brain was turning into mush fast. And now they were kissing; he was kissing one of his best friends!  
  
When they broke the kiss they were both breathing hard and shaking slightly. Shalimar looked at him letting out a shaky breath. God, the man could kiss! She didn't know that you could even do that with your tongue. He had been teasing her, and she had gotten fed up with it. She had jumped up and tackled it, intent on a good spar and making him cry uncle. Or just cry. She hadn't expected to react so strongly to being right next to him, feeling him right against to her and the next thing that she knew. Woah! Brennan kissage.  
  
Embarrassed, they fumbled for something to do, not looking at each other. Brennan taking a deep breath managed to mutter, "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, it just kind of." he trailed off.  
  
".Happened?" Shalimar gulped. [1]  
  
"Yeah." Brennan nodded. They shared a look. Their eyes locked and Brennan felt as if he might faint. She had incredible eyes. Shalimar wasn't faring to well herself, drowning in chocolate brown pools.  
  
"Brennan, Shalimar, I need you to." Both the feral and the elemental jumped in response to Adam's voice. Adam had drifted off as he saw his two team members and now was looking at the two crimson-faced new mutants with a look of concern. "Are you two all right? You're both flushed and out of breath!" He then looked suspiciously at the two. "What exactly did I walk in on?"  
  
Shalimar squeaked and Brennan sputtered, and both were about to make excuses when Adam interrupted. "If you two want to spar, do it in the dojo, and not near the extremely expensive super computer, got that?" Both nodded meekly. "But not right now. Right now I need you to go pick up a new mutant that has contacted us with an interest of going into the underground. When you get back you can finish what you started, but in the dojo, got that?" At which both Shalimar and Brennan both got very red once again. "Good." And with that Adam left the two alone.  
  
****************************  
  
The two went to the pick up spot. It was too easy. The new mutant's story checked out, and it looked like they had actually gotten someone who wanted to go into the underground and start a new life. For once it wasn't a trap, ambush or scheme by Eckhart to capture Mutant X. After getting Stacey Sheffield, or should I say, Veronica Winner, set up with her new identity and on her way the two headed back to the car.  
  
Brennan, in a good mood since things had gone smoothly for a change, whistled as he headed to the car. He flung his arm around Shalimar. "Ah, nothing like a job well done, eh Shal?" Then, realizing he had his arm around her he blushed and removed it. "Sorry." He muttered. Man, he hated this. It was just like he thought. He had walked with his arm around Shalimar all the time, and he had never had a problem with it before, but now he was worried she might take it wrong. or something. Now that they had kissed, did the rules change? He usually meant it as a buddy-buddy gesture, if he did it to Jesse or Emma, and it used to be, Shalimar. But now, it felt different with her. 'God, love is confusing!' He stopped in his tracks, causing Shalimar to turn around and ask what was wrong. He didn't hear her, to shocked by his own thought. 'LOVE?! Am I in LOVE with SHALIMAR?' Shalimar touched his arm and looked up at him with concern. Snapping out of his reverie, he blinked and looked down at her.  
  
"Brennan? Are you okay? You checked out on me for a second there." Shalimar looked up at him.  
  
"I'm fine. I just. realized something that's all." He answered throatily.  
  
"What did you realize?" Shalimar asked him, still looking concerned. "You looked pretty absorbed."  
  
"Huh? Oh, um, it was nothing, it's not really important." 'I just realized that I love you is all.'  
  
"Well, if you're sure."  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Peachy keen, Jelly Bean."  
  
Shalimar snorted. 'Very dignified.' She thought to herself. But, did the boy seriously just say 'peachy keen, Jelly Bean'? She laughed, gasping for breath. "P-peachy keen, Jelly Bean?" she snorted again, laughing uncontrollably. Brennan just shrugged.  
  
"What? This little girl in the apartment building I used to live in said it all the time. She thought it was hysterical too. She was a cute kid."  
  
"You old softie!" Shalimar exclaimed, still giggling at the thought of the twenty-nine year old ex-thief saying, 'Peachy keen, Jelly Bean'.  
  
"Yeah, well, I used to watch her sometimes, and I just kind of picked it up from her."  
  
"Awww, that's so sweet!" she reached over and gave him a hug. You would have thought that after the scene earlier she would have learned just what that kind of contact did to her, because suddenly she was deadly serious blushing and looking into his eyes. As soon as she did she was lost. God, why did he have to have such captivating eyes? The next thing she knew was the feeling of Brennan's lips catching hers in another mind-melting kiss.  
  
Brennan's brain was turning to mush again. He couldn't think, he needed to think. Oh, God he had never had this before, with anyone. He had experienced. God damn what was it? That subject that he had failed in high school. Chemistry that was it. What had he been thinking? Right. Shalimar. He needed to stop this. Right now. Yeah. Now would be a good time. Oh, yes, he would be stopping any second now. Now would definitely be a good time for his body to co-operate with his brain.  
  
"Brennan, I need you. I need you so bad!" whimpered Shalimar against him.  
  
Brennan looked down at her. He felt himself nod. 'Crap.'  
  
[1] finishing each other's sentences already!  
  
Rockergurl; So. What did you think?  
  
*crickets do not chirp. They are afraid.*  
  
Kitta Cat; Ummm.. Right.  
  
Rockergurl; Oh, just review! 


	2. The eyebrow thing gives it away

A/N Rockergurl; YEA! I got reviews!  
  
Do you guys seriously think that if I owned MX I would be sitting here writing THIS for fun? Good, I didn't think so. Hey, thanks to my fellow Brennan/Shal lovers, innocent choir girl, Sarge, and Quest!  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Brennan's eyes slid open and rested on Shalimar. He gently leaned over and brushed a tendril of hair away from her beautiful face. His finger drifted down to her lips and gently brushed against him. God, she was incredible. A real wildcat in the sack, but oh, so much more. He vaguely remembered last night, a melding of flesh against flesh, Shalimar's incredible kisses, for once it was more than just sex. It was making love. He could lie there forever, just sitting there and watching her sleep, open and relaxed but he knew that they had to go. It was early and they had been up late, seeing as Shalimar had incredible stamina, but he had called into Adam that they were going clubbing and would not be back until the wee hours of the morning, and he didn't want to push his luck.  
  
Sighing, he rolled out of bed and started to get dressed. He was belting his pants when Shalimar woke up and rolled over. "Morning." She muttered blearily, eyes still closed. Brennan just grinned. He knew that Shal couldn't function in the mornings until she had her coffee. She mostly just walked around with her eyes closed and groped around in her dresser and threw on the first thing she found until she could function enough to get properly dressed. He thought that she was cute like that, wandering around sleepily, hair mussed and with that certain glow that she always had, whether it was five in the morning or noon.  
  
He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck, rocking slightly back and forth. It was so comfortable like this, even if their first time had been in a dingy hotel. It didn't matter. It was Shalimar, and he would make sure that the next time would be better, nicer, like they were the two people in love that they were, not hormone crazed teenagers. He grinned, thinking about there being a 'next time' with Shalimar. If he had his say there would be a whole lot of 'next times'.  
  
Kissing her neck again, he whispered, "We should go. Wouldn't want Adam to be worried, now would we?"  
  
"What are we going to tell them?" Shalimar wondered aloud, stifling a yawn.  
  
"Do you want to tell them?" Brennan questioned. He didn't really care whether or not they knew that he was in love with his teammate, though he realized suddenly that he had yet to tell her that. He wasn't sure of their reaction, though Jesse would probably have a field day teasing him about it, of that he was sure. He was already on his back about his 'poetry thing' as Jesse liked to put it. But at this point, he wasn't sure if they should tell them. They would eventually, but now, it just felt nice to have Shalimar all to himself, no distractions or worries.  
  
Grinning a slightly evil (though sleepy, so it kind of spoiled the effect) grin, Shalimar slipped her friend-turned-lover a sly glance. "Well, you know, it would be a whole lot easier to slip off together if they didn't know just yet." She trailed a slow finger seductively up his bare chest.  
  
Drawing in a breath, Brennan forced himself to stay calm. He didn't really feel like going and taking a cold shower this morning. But it would seem that Shalimar was once again turning him into a happy little puddle of Brennan-mush. "And just what did you have in mind for us once we had managed to 'sneak off' Miss Fox?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh, I'm sure that you can think of SOMETHING Brennan. You were really quite creative last night, you know. That thing you did with your tongue? Pure genius." Shalimar was distracted as she spoke, seeing as how she was busy torturing Brennan, trailing kisses along his collarbone and neck, giving him a taste but not actually GOING anywhere. Brennan was going insane, no woman had ever done this to him, he was always in control in the relationship.  
  
Shalimar was now by his lips, as close as possible without them actually touching. Brennan had just about had it and was about to swoop in and capture her lips in a kiss, when she suddenly yawned in his face, completely spoiling the mood. Shalimar looked undisturbed. "I'm going to get some coffee, k?" she said in a much more chipper voice than she ever usually had in the mornings.  
  
Brennan just nodded dumbly, and Shalimar practically skipped out of the room, making Brennan wonder if she was actually a sadist and LIKED causing him this pain. Falling back onto the bed he let out a breath of air he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. "God damn it, that woman's going to be the death of me." he muttered.  
  
On the way back to Sanctuary, with a much more awake Shalimar and a slightly grumpy Brennan, the two said little, but Shalimar leaned against Brennan slightly and it was a comfortable silence that few people ever manage to master.  
  
When they went inside, only Emma, early riser that she was, and Adam, who the pair suspected had never gone to sleep the night before, were up to greet them, Jesse still snoring away into his pillow. "How was your night?" Adam asked, not looking up from whatever it was that he was doing.  
  
"Fine." They both answered.  
  
"So Brennan, break any hearts?" she asked, teasing him.  
  
Shalimar froze, but Brennan didn't even blink. "No, no broken hearts, though I did get on with this amazing blonde. She's smart, and funny, beautiful doesn't even begin to describe her. She is the most amazing and wonderful person I have ever met, and to top it all off, I'm pretty sure that she's the one." He gazed at Shalimar the entire time he was saying it, smiling softly.  
  
"The one?" Emma asked.  
  
"THE one Emma. Like soul mate material. Like marriage material. Like, she's the kind of woman that I can see myself spending the rest of my life with." his gaze still did not stray from Shalimar, who swallowed hard and gazed back.  
  
"I wasn't planning to hear THOSE words, in THAT order coming from YOUR mouth anytime soon. When did all this happen?" asked Adam, raising an eyebrow, totally oblivious to the whole Brennan-and-Shalimar-staring-gooey- eyed-at-each-other thing. Emma, however, wasn't so dense, and the vibes she was picking up off these two were amazing! Love was coming off these two in waves; she didn't even need to be a psionic to tell that.  
  
"I think that it's been a while, and I just didn't see it you know? And last night it just all clicked." Brennan broke his gaze with Shalimar. "I'm going to get some sleep. I'm bushed." With that he wandered off, heading for his room.  
  
"Shal?" Emma asked. "Can I talk to you?"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
As Brennan was passing Jesse's door, the younger mutant poked his head out the door, still ruffled with sleep. "Hey Brennan." said the blonde in way of greeting.  
  
Brennan blinked sleepily at his friend. "Hey Jess. How's it going?" he asked, rubbing his hand over the spot above his eye, right along the eyebrow.  
  
Jesse looked him up and down and a grin broke across his face. "You had sex with Shalimar, didn't you?"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"You had sex with Brennan, didn't you?" Emma stated.  
  
Shalimar looked shocked and then blushed. "How did you know?"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"How did you now?" Brennan was staring at Jesse, wondering if the other man wasn't half psionic.  
  
"Well, it's obvious that you and Shal have a thing for each other." 'It is?' thought Brennan. "And you came in from 'clubbing' with Shalimar, but it's obvious you had sex, so you must have had sex with Shalimar."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Shalimar, I'm a woman. I know these things. The love was practically smothering me in the other room. 'Like my soul mate material, like marriage material.' It's so romantic!"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"So was it hot?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"The sex!"  
  
"I still don't get how you knew I had sex." Brennan mumbled.  
  
"You did the eyebrow thing, Brennan." giving Brennan an everyone-knows-that look.  
  
"Eyebrow thing?" Brennan questioned, raising the feature.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"You know, I think Brennan was serious back there. I think he really loves you." Emma told Shalimar.  
  
"Are you sure?" Shalimar looked doubtful.  
  
"Shalimar, who's the psionic here, me or you?" Emma demanded.  
  
"Well, you."  
  
"So if I say that the man loves you, he does. You just have to trust me on this."  
  
"Well, that's good to know. Because I think that I'm in love with him too." Shalimar whispered.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"When you come home after sex, you always rub your eyebrow."  
  
Brennan stared at Jesse like he was nuts. "Are you sure?"  
  
"It's an unconscious habit, but if I say you do than you do. You just trust me on this."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
THE NEXT DAY...  
  
Brennan and Shalimar ran into each other in the hall.  
  
"Jesse knows."  
  
"Emma found out."  
  
"Never try and keep a secret from a psionic and a guy who pays WAY too much attention to detail." Brennan muttered.  
  
"Should we just tell Adam and get it over with?" Shalimar asked tiredly. "At the rate we're going, he'll find out anyway."  
  
"Jesse wouldn't know, except that it turns out that I do this thing after I get home from having sex."  
  
"What, the eyebrow thing?" Shalimar asked distractedly.  
  
Brennan threw up his hands. "How is it I supposedly do this thing that everyone but me knows about?"  
  
"Don't worry Brennan; I'm sure that not EVERYONE knows about it."  
  
Storming into over to the table, where Adam and Emma were eating, Brennan plopped down and demanded, "Is there something specific that I do after coming home after sex?"  
  
"What, the eyebrow thing?" they both asked at the same time.  
  
"OK, that's it. I'm going for a ride." Brennan said stormily and was about to stomp off when Adam broke in.  
  
"While you're at it want to pick up a new mutant for me? You can take Shalimar with you."  
  
"Fine, whatever." Brennan said running his hands through his hair.  
  
"Well, Genomex is very interested in this one. Very top secret, all hush- hush. All I could get out of the Genomex files is that it's a female feral. Other than she's very wanted for something. This means she's either very powerful or out of control."  
  
"Or both." Shalimar said darkly.  
  
"Right. So you see why it's so important for us to get to her first. If we can help her than its imperative that we do, because by the sounds of it, I wouldn't want her for an enemy." Adam said seriously.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
She was being mobbed by agents. There were too many of them, in this condition she wasn't going to be able to hold them off for too much longer. Jeez, she was so stupid! But she would have to worry about her stupidity later. Right now she had to fight. Right now she had to get free. But right now she was just too weak, to clumsy, not that she had ever been particularly strong. She had people to be strong for her. But she could feel it. She was going to lose.  
  
"HEY!" And everything froze. She knew that voice and apparently, so did the agents because suddenly she wasn't as interesting. Almost half the agents launched towards the speaker. She turned and saw him. Dark hair, brown eyes, perfect features, raw sex appeal. It was either him or his twin brother, which it must have been, because it wasn't possible for it to be him. He and a blonde woman were taking down agents at an alarming rate, and with her taking out anyone who let down their guard and got to close, the agents were quickly diminishing.  
  
And then they were all gone, all down, some unconscious, and some soon to be dead, those were her work. Regrettable, but necessary. And he was staring at her, her delicate features and wavy hair, just as he remembered, not that he wanted to. But there was one difference. One very big, very huge, very enormous difference. "Brennan." she whispered.  
  
His eyes hardened, and the blonde wench was glaring at her with intense hatred. Brennan's lips twisted into a sneer. "Lorna." Brennan spit out the word like it tasted bad.  
  
"That's me."  
  
"You're pregnant."  
  
"What's the matter Brennan? Don't you want to be a Daddy?" she sneered back.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Rockergurl; Bet you didn't see THAT one coming did you?  
  
Kitta Cat; That's because only YOUR mind would think of something like this.  
  
Rockergurl; Why, thank you! ^_^  
  
Kitta Cat; It was not a compliment you dolt. -_- 


	3. What to do, what to do?

*speaking very slowly* I. Do. Not. Own. Mutant. X. Got it now? Good. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
For a lack of a better idea, they brought Lorna back to Sanctuary. It was a stony silence because Shalimar currently wasn't speaking to Brennan and she was DEFINATLY not speaking to Lorna, and Lorna was also silent, not talking to either member of Mutant X. Brennan was blatantly ignoring Lorna and had given up trying to get Shalimar to talk to him. This wasn't the comfortable silence he had had with Shalimar in the car only this morning. God, had it only been that long? It felt like an eternity ago. This morning he had been happy and carefree, in love with a woman who loved him right back, who had just had a great night and had woken up with the said woman beside him. Now he was a man whose love was currently ignoring him, and a former- well, ok, she wasn't EXACTLY a former girlfriend, since he didn't have any say in the relationship, but that wasn't the point, had shown up. And to top it all off, she had shown up pregnant and claiming that it was his child. How quickly our lives can turn to crap, huh?  
  
'CLAIMING is the keyword here Brennan. She CLAIMS it's mine, but can she PROVE it? I mean, she seduces men for a living; there are probably more than one that could possibly be the father. Hell, she had been living with two guys when I met her.' Brennan thought, trying to calm himself down. But then his heart sank as he remembered that she never took those men into the bedroom, just kept them around for conveniences sake.  
  
He had already called into Adam that they had the feral, and had told him who it was. Brennan was staying as far from her as it was possible to get, not wanting to get close enough for her to spray him, as he didn't want a repeat performance of a few months ago. Lorna's hands were tied tightly, but in her state, they didn't think she was about to run away. She wasn't going to be very fast with that belly of hers.  
  
Adam was busily making more antidote to Lorna's pheromone mist, making sure that himself, Brennan and Jesse were protected and making more antidote to her poison stinger. When Lorna, Brennan and Shalimar arrived, he had yet to finish and ordered that only the girls were allowed to guard the dangerous feral. And seeing as he figured that if it was left up to Shalimar, Lorna would be dead within five minutes, because Shalimar was NOT a happy little feral, that left the guard duty all up to Emma.  
  
Emma was not exactly happy with this situation. She had been the one to save Brennan's life after this woman had poisoned him, and she was not about to go through it again. She wasn't going to let this woman hurt another one of her friends, but she wasn't about to do anything rash like Shalimar would be liable to do either. Since she wasn't about to hurt the innocent life inside Lorna, she settled for shooting her nasty looks, or as much of a nasty look as a gentle person like Emma could muster. It would seem that she was failing miserably, because Lorna was paying her absolutely no attention whatsoever, simply sitting on the medical chair, twisting her hands this way and that, trying to get out of her bonds. She was wasting her time of course. It had been Brennan who tied that knot, and Brennan's knots were all but impossible to untie, unless you were Brennan. But Emma was willing to allow Lorna to try, not caring that it was giving the other woman rope burns on her wrists. If she wanted to struggle and make it worse that was fine by Emma, it wasn't like she had to struggle or anything, Lorna was just being stubborn.  
  
However the silence was unbearable and Lorna wasn't paying any attention to her, so guard duty quickly became boring. There was nothing to do but sit and watch Lorna futilely try to figure out how to untie the knots, making her wrist rawer and rawer. Finally she gave up in disgust and glared at her bonds. "Where did he learn to tie knots like this? The Boy Scouts?" she exclaimed angrily. Emma rolled her eyes. She would bet money that Brennan had never gone anywhere NEAR a Boy Scout troop. Maybe if he HAD he wouldn't have grown up to be a career criminal.  
  
However, even Lorna's angry exclamations were better than silence, so she decided to take a shot and actually talk to her. It was a fairly disgusting thought, kind of like how she would react if she thought about sitting down for tea and a chat with Eckhart, but she couldn't take much more of this silence. It was getting on her nerves. "So, um, how far along are you?" Emma asked, picking a subject that she figured might get an answer.  
  
Lorna looked at her like she had just sprouted another head. Emma fidgeted. It wasn't that hard of a question after all. And if this WAS Brennan's baby, she wanted to know. Adam was trying to figure out if it WAS Brennan, through a blood test or something like that, but Emma thought that it must be Brennan's. This woman was deceit, through and through, Emma could tell, but she wasn't lying when she said that it was Brennan's. Emma could tell when people were lying, and about this, well, Lorna wasn't lying. Unless Lorna had made a mistake and only believed it to be Brennan's baby, then it was true. Emma hoped feverishly that it was the former, because Brennan and Shalimar REALLY did not need this kind of complication at this stage in their relationship.  
  
"I'm due any day." Lorna said quietly and Emma jerked. She had almost forgotten that she had even asked the question; Lorna had taken so long to answer. Lorna's hands were now resting on her bulging belly, looking at it softly. "It's a girl." She added as almost an afterthought.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"You can't be serious! She nearly killed Brennan!" exploded Shalimar, absolutely furious, glaring at Adam. If looks could kill, Adam knew that he would be one dead cookie right now, because Shalimar's look was blazing. He had never seen her this angry.  
  
"Be that as it may, she is also carrying his child Shalimar! Look, I've tested and re-tested, but it's true. What are we supposed to do Shalimar? I've tried, but I can't think of anything else to do but keep her here. We can't send her to Genomex pregnant, that's for sure. So what are we supposed to do? Because right about now I would love to hear some suggestions!" Adam was quickly losing his temper. He was tired, for Shalimar had been correct in their assumption that their leader had been up all night, and he was extremely pissed off. He had just discovered that Lorna had not been lying, that the child was most definitely the offspring of his team's elemental.  
  
This apparently wasn't enough for Shalimar, who continued to rant. "She can't stay HERE! Send her to a hospital or something. Let her have her baby and then ship her off to Genomex!" Shalimar shouted. This Lorna woman had nearly killed Brennan and there was no way in Hell that Shalimar was even going to give her the opportunity to try it again. She didn't care if the woman WAS controlled, tied up or whatever, she was a total psycho. If anyone deserved Genomex and the stasis pods, it was definitely her.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Eckhart stood looking out over the stasis pods. His agents had failed, once again, to follow simple orders. Was it truly all that difficult to bring in ONE new mutant? A new mutant who was in no condition to do much resisting at that. He had always been on the lookout for the feral, she was invaluable. He had not known that her type had even existed. A temptress, who no man could resist, would be a valuable asset to the team, although he suspected that she was slightly unstable. Most likely she would be just another specimen for the pods. He sighed, for it would be a regrettable loss if that is what the turn out would be, however it would be extremely unwise for him to allow this particular new mutant to run around unchecked. Once again he sighed. Such a waste. However, now that the woman was pregnant it left many more options to him. It was imperative that the woman be caught. It was a stroke of luck, really that she had returned to town and had been spotted by one of his agents.  
  
He no longer concerned himself with the woman; she was of no use o him. But the child; the child was invaluable. As it was the offspring of two new mutants, the child's powers might be twice as strong. There was also the possibility of the child being a hybrid- having multiple powers. Even if the child turned out to be nothing but an ordinary new mutant it was still imperative that it be brought in. To have a new mutant at birth, to be able to manipulate a mutant into the perfect agent- well, it was almost too good to be true. And to top it all off, it was the offspring of the one and only Brennan Mulwray. It was almost too perfect. Something to hold over Adam's elemental. A rare smile quirked across the man's lips. Oh, yes. He WOULD have that child. His agents would not fail again. He looked over the stasis pods again. They would not fail again, or they would pay.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Brennan walked into the lab where Shalimar was glaring at Adam and looked ready to throw something at her leader's head. As soon as Brennan walked into the room she switched her glare from Adam to him. She then whipped around and marched out, probably to find something to break to make herself feel better. "I still don't get why she's mad at ME!" Brennan sighed. Adam gave him a sympathetic smile, but continued making the antidote. Brennan flopped down unceremoniously into one of the chairs and ran his hands carelessly through his hair. He twisted his comm. Link nervously. "What am I going to do Adam? I mean, what would you do?" the ex-con said tiredly.  
  
"Well, the first thing that I would do is apologize and then maybe take her out for a night on the town and try to smooth things out-" Adam, who had FINALLY figured out what was going on between the two, started to say before being cut off by Brennan.  
  
"I MEANT the fact that we have a homicidal maniac who I was never in love with in the first place in our med lab VERY pregnant with my son or daughter Adam, not what I'm going to do about Shalimar!" He paused for a moment, pondering, then amended, "Though I don't know what to do about her either."  
  
"Well-"  
  
"I mean, we can't leave the baby with Lorna OBVIOUSLY, I mean, think about it!"  
  
"Right-"  
  
"But, I mean, come on Adam! I can't be a father, I don't know HOW, and can you just imagine raising a child around here?" Brennan exclaimed waving his arms around the room to emphasize his point.  
  
"Well-"  
  
"I mean, to NOT raise the kid around here I would have to leave Mutant X, and get an actual JOB. Adam, I'm a thief, I'm a con, I can't raise a kid!" Brennan was up and pacing around now, a slight note of panic edging into his voice as the reality of his situation was hitting him.  
  
"BRENNAN!" Adam shouted, snapping his team member out of his panic.  
  
"What?" Brennan asked, looking startled.  
  
"Whatever you decide to do, we'll back you up on it. As for what I would do, as it isn't me, that doesn't apply. This is a big decision, and I'm sorry to say that it's one that only you can decide."  
  
Brennan groaned. "Yeah, I figured you'd say that."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Lorna and Emma were having an old-fashioned stare-down. They were looking straight into each other's eyes, neither one blinking. Emma might have been a statue, and Lorna might have been dead [1] for all the two moved. Stonily, Emma said carefully, "Why did you try to kill Brennan?" This was a question that had been bothering her for a long time. Shalimar and Adam had said that Lorna had been crying after she had made her attempt on Brennan's life. CRYING! If had upset her so much, why would she have done it in the first place? Emma just didn't get it.  
  
However, if Emma was expecting some big philosophical answer she wasn't going to get it. Because the reason that Lorna had done what she had done was very simple. "He didn't love me." Lorna said with a simple shrug and Emma could tell that she wasn't lying. The woman had actually tried to kill one of her best friends because he simply did not love her. Emma glared at her, she rarely felt ill will towards anyone, but she was quickly coming to hate this woman, and had an overwhelming desire to blast her a good one with her psi-blaster. 'Brennan's baby, think of Brennan's baby, you don't know what kind of effect it'll have on her.' She forced herself to calm down, and it was a good thing too, because if she had remained at that level of anger, the amount of indifference in Lorna's next comment might have sent her over the edge. "I don't know what you're complaining about anyways. It's not like he actually died, now is it?"  
  
"He almost did." Emma shot back, glaring at the pregnant woman. Didn't she care? Didn't she know how close she had been to taking Emma's best friend away from her? Didn't she realize that she and Jesse and Adam and Shalimar, Christ ESPECIALLY Shalimar would have been absolutely DEVESTATED if anything had happened to Brennan? 'No, she doesn't.' realized Emma. 'She has not a clue how close she came to bringing our worlds crashing down, nor does she even care.'  
  
"But he didn't." Lorna said it slowly and calmly, as if explaining something to a very small child who doesn't understand.  
  
Before Emma could reply, Shalimar stormed in. Her eyes were set on the other feral. When Lorna returned her gaze, Shalimar's blood started to boil and her eyes glowed feral. She leaned in, about an inch from Lorna's face, invading the other woman's personal space. "I don't like you." Shalimar said simply, as if stating a well known fact, like one plus one is two. "I don't want you near me, or any of the people that I love, ESPECAILLY Brennan. But I am going to tolerate you. For now." Shalimar said in a deadly whisper.  
  
Lorna simply smirked. She knew exactly what had the other feral's panties all in a twist. It was quite obvious that she and Brennan had a thing for each other. They were probably in a sexual relationship. Oh, yes, she knew what it was that was bothering the blonde. It wasn't just that she had tried to kill Brennan. Oh, no, it was more than that. "It bothers you, doesn't it?" Lorna sneered nastily, laughing breathlessly. "That I got to him first?" Neither one of them was a question and Lorna already knew the answers.  
  
Shalimar's eyes flashed feral again and it was all she could do to keep herself from throttling Lorna right then and there. Because she was right. Shalimar did hate it that Lorna had had Brennan first, had gotten to her lover before she had. That she was carrying his child, a bond that Shalimar didn't have. But she stopped herself. Because she knew that it didn't matter. It didn't matter if Lorna was the one to bear Brennan's child, because she sure as Hell was NOT going to be the one that raised it. No matter what bonds this maniac THOUGHT she had with Brennan, it was nothing compared to the bond that Shalimar had with him. Because Lorna wasn't the one that Brennan was in love with, could see himself MARRYING. Not Lorna. No, it was her. Shalimar. And there was nothing that Lorna could do about it.  
  
Rockergurl; chapter three is done! Yes!  
  
[1] Wishful thinking. Hehe 


	4. guard duty

Disclaimer; Do I really have to say this again?  
  
Lawyers; Yes.  
  
Rockergurl; Fine. I don't own them. Happy now?  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"OK guys, gather 'round." Adam announced smearing on small amounts of the antidotes on Jesse and Brennan and finally himself. "OK, now we're immune to her pheromone mist and to her stinger's poison, but let's try to avoid getting stung. The antidote will stop the poison before it will kill you but it will be extremely, shall we say, uncomfortable. We all know the damage that it can do, right?" He gave a significant look to Brennan as he was saying this.  
  
Brennan gave a snort of derision. "Yeah, we all know all right," he muttered, face dark as he absently rubbed his neck where Lorna had stung him the last time around.  
  
"Right. We're going to have to guard her at all times. I don't want her to be left her alone for one second, you got me?" Adam looked around at his team members, all looking somber and deadly serious. "We need someone to watch her for the first shift. Who's up for it?"  
  
"I'll do it." Brennan said darkly. Shalimar glared at him. She ignored his dark look completely misreading him. Why did he want to watch Lorna? She knew that what she had said to Lorna was true. She truly believed that Brennan loved her and she loved him back. They loved each other dammit! Why would he want to spend any time at all with Lorna? The rest of the team looked at him in mild surprise. It wasn't that they didn't expect him to do his share of the work or anything like that, but it was kind of a big shock to find out that your murdering-psycho-bitch-ex-girlfriend (kind of)-from- Hell is pregnant with your child. They thought that he might want a little downtime to adjust to it. Seeing their looks, Brennan added, "Look, guys, this is my problem. Mine. I'll deal with it."  
  
Jesse shook his head. Brennan was so stubborn and sometimes he just wanted to shake him. The man had trust issues. "Look, Brennan, we're all on your side. I mean, this is big. As a matter of fact, this is kind of huge. Astronomically so. So if you think that any of us are just going to abandon you and let you deal with it by yourself, you're wrong. There is no way that we are going to let you go through this alone.  
  
"Thanks, Jess, really, I appreciate it and everything, but no. Look, this is my problem, so I will deal with it." He looked at Shalimar. She was really pissed. He had majorly screwed up. He had to fix this somehow. He wasn't really sure HOW this was his fault exactly, because technically it had been all against his will. But of course, that was a technicality. He had had a good thing going with Shalimar. Hopefully he could still have it. First, though, he needed to fix his mistake. "I'LL deal with it." He repeated firmly, looking at Shalimar. 'I'll fix this Shal. Somehow, then we can talk.' He thought. 'But first I need to take care of this.'  
  
Shalimar let out a shaky breath. She felt her anger draining out of her. Her shoulders slumped slightly. She couldn't blame Brennan for this. He didn't want this. She could tell. She couldn't be mad at his baby, either. None of this mess was their fault; it was all Lorna's doing. She was just so confused. But looking at Brennan, she knew that what she was feeling was nothing compared to what he was going through. As a matter of fact, the older mutant looked like Hell. Well, a very attractive, sexy, incredibly- well, that wasn't the point. He looked exhausted. She closed her eyes, confused. Brennan didn't want this? Well, she didn't want this either. She wanted Lorna gone, to be with Brennan, that's what she wanted! "WE'LL deal with it." She said, after a long pause. She couldn't let him do this alone. "We ARE a team, right? Teams have to help each other out. WE'LL deal with it." She looked up into his chocolaty brown eyes. For a few seconds she forgot to breathe. She felt as if she might pass out. God, after all this he still had that effect on her. Brennan gazed back. She was so intense. Damn, she was so beautiful, so perfect, so- well, so SHALIMAR. They stared into each others eyes, each drowning in their own way.  
  
A grin spread across Emma's face. Yup, these two had it BAD for each other.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Brennan had finally given in to letting the team help him out, but still insisted that he take first watch. He strode into the medical room, where Lorna had regained her vigor, and was now going at the knots with a vengeance. They were still as strong as they had been when Emma had been watching her. Lorna looked up when Brennan came in and felt her breath catch.  
  
Oh, sweet God, the man was as sexy as ever. Just having him in the same room with her increased her need. Stupid antidote, if only there were a way to override it or something. "Hello, Brennan. I missed you." She smirked. If it weren't for the antidote and these stupid ropes, she would get up and take him right now.  
  
Brennan narrowed his eyes. "You MISSED me. Yeah, right." He snorted.  
  
"What? You didn't miss me? We were great together and you know it." Lorna purred. If she couldn't have him, she was going to, at the very least, piss him off. He was so much hotter when he was angry.  
  
Brennan's anger boiled up inside him. It was all he could do to keep his distance. If he was closer to her he would have shaken her to within an inch of her life. But then he might harm his baby. It sickened him that they were connected in any way. "That didn't work then, and I will most defiantly NOT work now." He said through gritted teeth, managing to get himself under control.  
  
"Oh, really?" Lorna chirped in a mocking tone. "I seem to remember it working quite well. I have the proof of it right here in your baby girl."  
  
This stopped Brennan in his tracks. He swallowed. "It's a girl?" he asked tentatively, as if afraid of the answer. It made it more real, somehow, knowing that the baby was a girl or a boy.  
  
"Yes," Lorna sneered. "It's a little girl. She's going to turn out just like me."  
  
Brennan's anger returned full force. "You are sick Lorna, do you know that? Sick."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Lorna was getting bored. She had gone through the alphabet twice in search of a name. In fact, she didn't even really care what the kid was named. But it was something to do. There wasn't much to do except stare at Brennan, and while it wasn't a bad view, he wasn't doing anything all that interesting. He was just sitting there reading poetry, glancing at her from time to time to make sure the knots were holding or that she was'nt doing anything 'funny'. She decided to go through the alphabet again. A-Amber or Alyssa, B- Brenda (after Brennan) or Brianne. Before she could get to the C's, she drifter off to sleep.  
  
"Ah!" she awoke to a harsh cramp. She waited, but nothing happened, and she started to relax when it came again. "Ahhhhh, ooh, wow, that hurts!"  
  
"What?" Brennan asked, glancing up irritably from 'Leaves of Grass' by Walt Whitman.  
  
"I think that my water just broke," grunted Lorna.  
  
Rockergurl; MWAHAHAHAH! I am so evil leaving it right there! Hey, Sarge, Quest and Innocent Choir Girl! Look! I updated finally!  
  
Kitta Cat; Well, yippee for you. I'm jumping up and down with glee.  
  
Rockergurl; No you aren't.  
  
Kitta Cat; It's all on the inside. 


	5. Life and Father's Joy

Disclaimer; I don't own them already!  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Ahahahaha, I think that I am going into labor. OHH!" Lorna gasped. Oh, yes, she was most defiantly going into labor.  
  
Brennan stared. She was WHAT?! "Oh. My. God." He gulped. His eyes grew wider as he realized that in a matter of hours he was going to be a father! He wasn't ready for this! "OH MY GOD!" he bolted up from his sitting position a panicked look on his face. "Uh, uh, um, what do I do? Adam? ADAM?!"  
  
Over his comm. link came the startled and concerned voice of the team's fearless leader. "Brennan? What's the problem?"  
  
"Lorna's going into LABOR that's what the friggen PROBLEM is! WHAT THE HELL DO I DO?! He all but screamed, trying desperately to keep his cool.  
  
Adam's voice came soothingly over the comm. link. "Stay calm, Brennan. I'm coming, OK, you just need to stay calm."  
  
"Right. Stay calm, I can do that." Brennan said in a little-more-than- slightly-panicked voice.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Adam poked his head into the dojo where Shalimar, Jesse and Emma were standing around talking. "Lorna just went into labor. I need you to come with me." Adam informed them.  
  
"She's going into labor? Like, as in, right now?" Shalimar asked, eyes widening in shock.  
  
"Yes. Right now." Answered Adam, looking a little annoyed. Now wasn't the time to be asking questions that he had already answered. The three team mates stood there for a moment, various degrees of shock on their faces, digesting this. Adam understood that they were surprised and all, he really did, but he also needed their help. Now. Not later. "I said let's move!" he barked sharply. They all jumped and the girls blushed as they got up to follow him out of the dojo.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Two hours later~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Oh, God, here comes another one!" Lorna gasped out. She gnashed her teeth together. The contractions had gotten steadily closer together as the time had passed and now were only a few seconds apart. "This is going to be an only child, I swear upon everything Holy, OH, MY GOD!" Lorna let out a screech like a wounded animal. She dug her fingers into the arms of the medical chair and heard the fabric rip under her nails. Lorna started cursing like a sailor, yelling every expletive that she knew, and making up a few along the way. She started cursing everyone from God, for making her a woman, to Brennan, for getting her pregnant. Oh, yes, this was defiantly going to be an only child. She thought of an aunt that she had that had seven kids. Who the HELL in their right minds would go through this torture SEVEN TIMES?  
  
"It's coming!" called out Adam. Brennan paled at this news and looked as if he were about to faint. "Push!"  
  
"What the HELL does it LOOK like I'm doing, you idiot? Skipping rope? I AM pushing!" spat Lorna, gritting her teeth. Good God, she was surrounded by morons. She let out another shriek, the pressure of it all was just so unbearable, it felt like it was going to tear her apart! If this baby didn't come out soon she was going to fly into a thousand pieces. And then the release, but it was so sudden, far too sudden and far too final to be real. There was crying, but that was somewhere far away. Like interference on a radio channel.  
  
Adam was laughing. "Brennan, congratulations, you have a beautiful, healthy baby girl!"  
  
Tears of blessed release streamed down Lorna's face. It was over!  
  
"Brennan, here, look at you daughter!" Brennan was laughing too as he took his little creation into his arms. It didn't matter to him, he suddenly realized, that this baby was also Lorna's. It was his daughter. He was a father, he was holding his child.  
  
"I'm a father. I'm a father." He tested out how it sounded coming out of his mouth. He just couldn't get over it. He looked up at Jesse. "I'm a father Jess." He informed his friend.  
  
"So I hear." Said Jesse, grinning good-naturedly. He wasn't sure what he thought about this whole thing yet. Being a father didn't really fit in with Jesse's picture of Brennan. But if Brennan was willing to adjust his life to become one, then Jesse figured that he could adjust a little too.  
  
Shalimar looked from Brennan to Lorna and then finally rested on the baby, who Adam had taken back from Brennan and was now tending to. It was done now. Brennan was a father. Lorna was a mother. The baby was THEIR child. She chewed on her lip, trying to tell herself that what she had told Lorna was true, that Brennan loved HER and that it would stay that way.  
  
That still sent chills up her spine whenever she thought it. Brennan LOVED her. Suddenly she didn't feel so worried. Brennan, seeing her still tense look, moved beside her and took her hand in his and gave a light squeeze. "We need to talk." Brennan murmured to his lover.  
  
Shalimar nodded. They defiantly needed to talk. "Later?"  
  
"Yeah." With another quick squeeze of her hand, he walked over to where Adam had finished cleaning off his daughter. Only a few minutes old, and she looked so beautiful, though his opinion was a tiny bit biased. She had tiny tendrils of black hair on her head and her cheeks were rosy read, and her eyes were peacefully closed. He ran his hand over the fine strands of dark hair. He wondered if it would fall out or not. Adam turned over the precious bundle, and Brennan cradled her into his arms.  
  
Shalimar slid over and looked at the baby. She looked so peaceful lying there in her father's arms. It looked as if she had inherited her father's dark locks, and if you looked closely you could see other traces of Brennan in her tiny features. As she was passed from Adam to Brennan, she opened her eyes and Shalimar had to draw in a breath. Those eyes were Brennan's. The same brown pools that she found herself drowning in when she gazed into their depths. Though she searched for them, she couldn't find a trace of Lorna in the little girl. "So, what are you going to call her?" she asked, and Brennan looked surprised.  
  
"Oh, right. She needs a name doesn't she?" Brennan pondered. Shalimar rolled her eyes. Leave it to Brennan to forget something like that.  
  
Brennan chewed his lip momentarily and Shalimar saw the danger sign. Any second now he was going to start pacing and jar that precious bundle. "Here, why don't you let me hold her, please Brennan?" Brennan nodded and slid his daughter to Shalimar. At the movement the baby whimpered but quickly settled down. "Aww, that's a good girl. You're such a sweetie, yes you are!" Shalimar cooed.  
  
Brennan, true to Shalimar's prediction, started pacing up and down, a frown on his face. He shot a look at Lorna. "I don't suppose you already have a name picked out, do you?"  
  
She just shook her head in a kind of bored way. "You name her. I really don't care."  
  
Brennan scowled. She didn't CARE? What the Hell kind of mother didn't care what their child was called? "Any ideas?" he asked his team, looking at them hopefully. Adam looked thoughtful, and the rest just shrugged helplessly. He sighed and looked at his daughter in Shalimar's arms. His face softened. "She's so little." He said in a low voice, almost a whisper. "But you can see that she's so full of life. Just look at her, I feel like I've known her all my life. He slid an arm around his lover and gazed at the baby. HIS baby. "Every time I look at her, I feel so proud, you know?"  
  
"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" said Shalimar.  
  
"Huh?" What's it?" Brennan asked her, confused.  
  
"You just gave her her name Brennan."  
  
Brennan stared. "I did?" He didn't RECALL naming her anything.  
  
"Aisha Abigail." Stated Shalimar. Brennan looked at her confusedly. Now he KNEW he hadn't named her that. The rest of the Mutant Xers looked at her as if she had sprouted another head. She shrugged a little self-consciously. "Aisha means life, and Abigail means father's joy. Isn't that what you just described?"  
  
Brennan looked down at his daughter again. Aisha. He said it out loud a few times and decided that he liked the way it sounded. That was it then. Aisha was her name, of course it was. "Hello, Aisha." He said in a reverent whisper.  
  
"Well," said Adam, effectively breaking the moment, "Now that we have the most important thing taken care of, we're going to need a few things."  
  
"Like what?" Asked Brennan.  
  
"Things for the baby. Most of the stuff we need is in the safe houses, we can just borrow some until we get a chance to go shopping. You know, a cradle, diapers, baby clothes, bottles, formula, it's all there, we just need to get it HERE. Jesse, Emma, I need you to go to safe house 2 and borrow some, alright?" After you get back we can se up a place for the cradle and the baby's things, at least until Brennan figures out what he's going to do. And Brennan?"  
  
"Yeah?" asked the mutant in question.  
  
"Get some sleep, you look like Hell."  
  
"What about her?" Brennan asked, pointing to a now sleeping Lorna.  
  
"I think that she'll be out for a while. Here, Shalimar, why don't you give Aisha to me, I think that you and Brennan should talk." Adam took Aisha from Shalimar.  
  
The two waited while Jesse and Emma went to the Helix and Adam went off, saying he wanted to do a check up on Aisha and make sure that there were no complications. They stood there awkwardly for a moment. "Come on, we need to talk." Said Brennan finally, and taking Shalimar by the hand he led her out of the room.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The two sat in silence on the floor of the dojo. Both of them nervous and unsure of what to say. "Shalimar," Brennan started slowly, hesitating and unsure.  
  
"Yes?" she prompted him, after a short pause.  
  
"I want to keep the baby." He informed her, biting his lip. "But. Well. I don't know if I can do it Shalimar. I mean, I didn't ask for this, you know. Yesterday, everything was so simple, and now, God Shalimar! It's not even twenty-four hours later and things are so messed up! I'm a father, I have a DAUGHTER Shalimar. And I don't know if I'm going to be able to handle all this. I've screwed things up with you and I have all these new thoughts.." He trailed off. "I don't even know if I can still be in Mutant X. It's going to be hard enough raising a child. I'm not sure if I could fight Genomex at the same time. When she gets older, how am I going to tell her that she's a child of ra- '' He cut himself off.  
  
Shalimar stared at him. Had he been about to say what she thought that he was going to say? "Rape?" she asked, with her eyes wide.  
  
Brennan gave a short laugh. "Yeah. Rape, Shalimar, what else do you think it is when you are forced into intercourse against your will?" He glared bitterly at the ground.  
  
Shalimar paused to digest this. "I guess that I didn't think of it that way, I mean, right after, you were there, and you were making jokes, you just didn't seem like a victim."  
  
"I thought that I loved her, Shal. I did love her, but. It wasn't real. It was all just an illusion, you know? Not real." He repeated to himself. He picked up Shalimar's hand in his. "This, Shalimar? This, with you? THIS is real." He lifted the hand and kissed her fingertips. "Everything feels different with you, better, everything is harder and faster and so much more intense. Sometimes I can't breathe when I'm around you. Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning, and I don't want to come up for air. You are so much more real than she could ever be, do you get that Shalimar?" He kissed the palm of her hand. "Real." He affirmed.  
  
She ran the hand over his cheek and he nuzzled against it contentedly. He closed his eyes blissfully. "I love you Shalimar. I really do." he whispered softly.  
  
Shalimar lifted his chin and he opened his eyes to look into her brown ones. "I love you too, Brennan. Don't worry so much about the future. We'll figure something out. I promise."  
  
Brennan smiled and worked his way around her and then enveloped her in his arms. He rested his chin on her hair. "What did I ever do to get lucky enough to deserve you?" He murmured, swaying back and forth with her slightly. He kissed the top of her head softly.  
  
"I'm not sure." Answered the feral playfully. Then more seriously, she added, "C'mon, Brennan. We should get you to bed. Adam was right, you could use the rest, and you look exhausted." She got up, though reluctantly. It was very comfortable wrapped up in Brennan's arms, but she could tell all this pressure and stress was really wearing him down.  
  
"Yeah, bed sounds good." He said, stretching. Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he added slyly, "You want to join me?"  
  
Mockingly she raised her eyebrow at him. "Brennan Mulwray, are you trying to seduce me?"  
  
"But of course!" declared Brennan, with a serious look on his face. "Is it working?"  
  
Shalimar barely brushed her lips against his. "Do I look seducible?" she asked in a husky whisper, straddling his hips.  
  
"Um, from this vantage point, yes, you look incredibly seducible." Brennan informed her, a little smirk playing across his lips.  
  
"Really? Do I now?" She licked his ear and grinned when she felt a shudder go through his entire body. "Well, Brennan, I should THINK that an avid reader like yourself should know one of the most important rules."  
  
Brennan blinked in puzzlement. Rule? What rule? And what did his liking to read have to do with anything? "Shalimar?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"What on EARTH are you talking about?"  
  
"The most important rule Brennan." She said, unbuckling his belt.  
  
"Which is?"  
  
Shalimar looked up from her ministrations. She looked around and then leaned forward and whispered into his ear, like it was a secret, "You think I look seducible, Brennan? Well, the most important rule is- Never judge a book by its cover." And with that, she slid off his lap, and walked away, smacking him with his own belt, which she had finished removing.  
  
Brennan's mouth dropped open. He closed it, only to have it drop open again. 'Ok, you can stop with the carp impressions now!' He thought to himself. His mind flashed back to the scene at the hotel. 'Oh, yes. She is most DEFINATLY a sadist.' He thought firmly. And with that, he got up and stumbled tiredly off to bed.  
  
Adam had finished the tests he had been running on Aisha. He had checked on Brennan and Shalimar, to find that Brennan was fast asleep and Shalimar was fixing up a place for the baby, 'To surprise Brennan'. It would seem that the two had kissed and made up. So Adam had volunteered to take Aisha until Brennan woke up. He took her to his bedroom and lay her on the bed.  
  
Meanwhile, in the med lab, Lorna opened her eyes and sat up.  
  
Lorna looked around for the heaviest thing that she could find. She managed to scrounge up an extra piece of spare pipe. Carefully she tuned into her feral instincts. There was another feral here, one with skills much more developed than her own, she would have to be very careful. But she wasn't after the feral. She walked silently through Sanctuary. She wouldn't even have to hunt her prey. She opened the door silently. Adam had his back to her, bending over Aisha on the bed.  
  
Hearing a noise he started to turn around. "Is that you Sha-" he turned to face Lorna. She swung the pipe like a major league slugger, pretending that Adam's head was the ball. Adam slumped to the floor. Lorna stood there a moment, still clutching the pipe, making sure that he wouldn't move. When he didn't, she dropped the pipe and rushed over to her baby. She picked her up and looked around, then fled the room with her. She ran to the garage and quickly chose a car. She slipped in, noticing that there were no keys. No matter, Brennan wasn't the ONLY one who could hotwire a car. In a minute the job was done and not even knowing where she was going, nor CARING where she was going, she took off.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Rockergurl; Watch out for that cliff....  
  
Kitta Cat; What was that scene between Shalimar and Brennan? That was so FLUFFY!  
  
Rockergurl; Its Bren/Shal fluff! So who cares? Now, all you readers out there, and I KNOW that you're out there, I can see you! See that little button down there that says 'Go'? Why don't you do me a favor and press it and leave me a little review? 


	6. Capture!

Rockergurl; I do not own Mutant X or any of it's characters. Though I wish that I owned Brennan... I am just borrowing the characters for this fanfic and promise to return them in good condition when I'm done.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Lorna was holding the baby in an awkward position and managing to stay on the road at the same time. This, however wasn't going to work for very long. Mutant X and Brennan would be on her tail soon and she couldn't keep holding the baby forever. S he quickly came to a decision and headed for the nearest shopping mall. She went in and quickly bought the essential things for her child, including a car seat. "You're turning out to be more trouble than I thought." She muttered fondly to her baby. She went out to the parking lot. Thank God that it wasn't particularly crowded. She needed to ditch the Audi. She took her time choosing the car, a nondescript vehicle, one that someone would never think twice about. She then calmly took out the screwdriver she had bought and switched the license plate of her chosen car with that of one nearby. It would slow down the police and Mutant X, and she might be able to get some distance between her and this town. She buckled in her baby and easily hotwired the car.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Adam groaned. He had the worst headache. He reached up to rub his aching temple and was startled when his hand came away wet with blood. Suddenly he remembered. "Lorna. Damnit." He pulled himself to his feet. "Shalimar! Brennan!" he called frantically, trying to think. How long had he been out? Hopefully it wasn't too long and they would still have a chance to catch her.  
  
"Adam? Adam, what's wrong?" Shal popped her head into his room to see what the problem was.  
  
"Lorna. She took the baby." Adam informed her darkly.  
  
Shalimar paled. "Oh, my God. Brennan." She whispered.  
  
As if on cue, Brennan came in and leaned against the door frame. "Hey guys, what's all the commotion?" Adam looked up, and worry crossed Brennan's face. "What happened to you?" he asked. Adam simply remained silent. Brennan looked confused. "What is up with you guys? Wait a minute. Where's Aisha?" He looked around, not seeing the newborn anywhere. "Adam, where's Aisha?" Adam didn't look him in the eye. "Shal, where is she?" When she also refused to answer, he crossed the room and forced her to look into his eyes. "Where IS she Shalimar?"  
  
Shalimar swallowed and finally managed to get a word out. "Lorna." Was all she said and it was enough, because Brennan paled and suddenly he wasn't sure if his legs would hold him anymore.  
  
He sank onto Adam's bed as he realized what must have happened. His baby was gone. Shalimar sat on the bed next to him and put her arms around him. Instinctively he slid his arm around her and held her close, drawing comfort from her warmth. Brennan had to remind himself to breathe.  
  
Everyone in the room jumped as Jesse's voice rang through Sanctuary. "We're home! We got everything that you asked for Adam!"  
  
"We're in here," Adam called hoarsely. Jesse and Emma showed up at Adam's door, smiles disappearing as they saw the state that everyone was in.  
  
"What happened?" asked Emma anxiously.  
  
"Lorna took the baby." Adam said quietly.  
  
"Oh Brennan, I'm so sorry!" and with that, Emma was on the other side of Brennan on the bed, soothing her best friend.  
  
"Damn." Jesse said slowly. Then, "Damn!" with more feeling. He looked frustrated. "Well, what do we do about it?"  
  
Brennan spoke up for the first time he had sunk onto Adam's bed. "Now we save my daughter Jesse. Now we save Aisha."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Eckhart sat in his chair. Another agent was proving himself unworthy of his position here at Genomex. He wondered if there would be another for the stasis pods by the end of tomorrow. Too bad, too, for Evans might have been a promising field agent. Jacob Evans was a feral of the lupine persuasion. His sense of smell was heightened to such an extent that he made an excellent tracker and was able to bring in some of the more elusive New Mutants. It was his currant mission to track down and bring in Lorna Templeton. He had failed. The doors behind Eckhart opened. "Ah, Mr. Evans. I see that you have failed to apprehend the anomaly, Ms. Lorna Templeton and bring her to me, as requested."  
  
Evans was a tall black man, with piercing brown eyes that were cold and staring. His deep black hair was in a neat military cut and he stood ramrod straight. Jacob Evans, by all rights, should have been a soldier. "Sir, I apologize, but there was the unexpected involvement of Mutant X-"  
  
Eckhart whirled around in his chair to face the man, cutting him off. "Unexpected? UNEXPECTED involvement? Did I not tell you that Brennan Mulwray, a MEMBER of Mutant X was suspected to be the father of the child? How could you NOT expect Mutant X's involvement?" Eckhart glared at Evens coldly. "Leave. Go after her and do not fail me again."  
  
Evens left the office silently, his face stormy. He had failed. Unacceptable. He would have to make up for his mistake. He would apprehend the woman and her child... and the father. Oh, yes, that would please Eckhart. It was a good thing that Mulwray's file said that it was acceptable for this particular one to be brought in dead or alive, that made it easier. He didn't like to be hampered by such things.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Jesse, you get on the computer and start tracing the Audi. The faster we do this the better chance we'll have of catching her and getting Aisha back. She hasn't been gone that long yet; she might not have had a chance to ditch the car yet. Shalimar, you and Brennan get up in the air with the double helix and start tracing the possible routes she might have taken. If we get a lock on the car Jesse'll call it in to you. Emma, you've got to start looking for her using your abilities. She might have already gotten rid of the car." Adam was in his prime, snapping out orders like a marine drill sergeant.  
  
Brennan on the other hand was a total wreck. His clothes were rumpled and his hair had been run through so many times since Aisha and Lorna had been discovered missing that it was a miracle that he wasn't bald. He was about ready for a nervous breakdown and Adam wasn't sure that he was going to be able to handle anymore strain. He was snapping at anyone who dared to talk to him, except for Shalimar, so Adam decided it might be a god idea to pair them up and see if Shal couldn't calm him down.  
  
Brennan and Shalimar were tracing the most likely route that Lorna might have taken. Brennan was frantically searching for the silver Audi when Jesse's voice came through the comm. link. "Guys, I've got the Audi, it's in a parking lot outside the shopping mall."  
  
"Got it Jess, we're already on our way. Thanks." Shal said, lifting the ring to her mouth.  
  
"No problem."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Lorna stopped for gas. She paid with small bills. Cash. She was careful. She knew the score. It was stupid to come back here, especially when she had thought that Brennan had been dead. But it had been so close to her time, and with the baby only days away, she had wanted to see it. The city where she had met the father. He hadn't loved her, none of them had, and she didn't really care. Brennan Mulwray, as little as she knew about him, had lit a fire in her, one that refused to be extinguished and she wanted some connection with him before her baby was born. But he wasn't dead, he was alive and she had endangered herself and her baby by coming here again. Aisha, she reminded herself, he had named her Aisha. Then her faced darkened. No. HE hadn't named her, she had. That little blonde wench. Brennan loved her. She could see it in the way he looked at the little blondie, the way he used to look at her when under her Influence.  
  
Stupid. Stupid to come here and endanger herself for someone who should be dead and buried. She should never come back to the same place twice, she left too much in the way of dead bodies. Sometimes she wondered what would happen when she ran out of places to go.  
  
She nursed the baby. Then she buckled her into the car seat and went into the restroom to clean up. She should put as much distance between her and this place as possible, as soon as she could. She looked in the mirror. She didn't look real great, but she didn't suppose that really matter. She could be the ugliest woman on earth and men would still fall at her feet and worship her if she wanted them to.  
  
She left the restroom and started towards the stolen car. There was a young black man with a military haircut leaning against it. "Lorna Templeton." He sneered.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
It was pure luck that Templeton had left Mutant X's Sanctuary. Who would have thought that she wasn't that stupid. It hadn't been difficult to find her with his particular skills. He had done his homework on this one. He knew her ways, her feral charms. That's why the agents he had requested for this mission were all female. They were ferals too. Mostly Ursine, the bear type. They would be strong enough and fast enough to hold her. The struggle didn't last long, it only took a minute or two to subdue the anomaly and get a sub-dermanal governor into her neck.  
  
This was almost too easy.  
  
The child was in the backseat of the car, crying her head off. He wondered what her mutant powers would be. She was still far too young to tell, but maybe, if they were lucky, it wouldn't be too long before she started to show signs of her mutantcy. He had the mother and the daughter, and it would only be a matter of time before the father would play right into his hands.  
  
He had studied Mutant X extensively. They were so predictable it was almost boring. Every time they abducted a member of Mutant X or anyone close to them, they broke in and got them back. He doubted they would care about the feral, but they would care about the child. Oh, yes, Mulwray would come for the daughter. And then he would die.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Rockergurl; Getting towards the end of the story now!  
  
Kitta Cat; *mutters* Thank God. I'm sick of inspiring.  
  
Rockergurl; Well too bad cuz I'm starting another MX story, Bren/Shal of course, but kind of angsty.  
  
Kitta Cat; *Groans* 


	7. Infiltration

A/N- Bold words are the gray dreamscape thing that happens when Emma goes into someone's head.  
  
Disclaimer- I own only Aisha Mulwray and Jacob Evans. I own no one else and am making no money off this fic.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Dammit!" Brennan swore. He hated this. He absolutely hated this. Lorna had ditched the Audi. She had stolen a car parked in the parking lot of the mall. There were two cops there, filing a report for the distraught woman whose car Lorna had taken. He didn't dare show his face, lest one of them recognize him. He hadn't been brought in, in years, but when he had, it had been mostly for auto theft. He wasn't going to push his luck showing his face around the spot where a car had just been stolen. Shalimar had gone to get the license plate number and the description of the stolen car. She was then going to drive the car back to Sanctuary.  
  
What in Hell was taking her so long? He was sorely tempted to leave the Helix and go get that stupid description himself, even if it meant exposing himself to the cops. Anything to get his daughter back.  
  
But if he did Shalimar would probably read him the riot act for pulling a stunt like that. She had left him with stern instructions not to leave the Helix, like he was some little kid. She had popped out with muttered comments about how the last thing that they needed right now was to have to go and bail him out of jail.  
  
He paused then, and in a defeated gesture he contacted Adam on his comm. link. "Adam, she got rid of the Audi. She stole a car. Shal is getting the Audi and a description of the stolen car and then she's coming back to Sanctuary." Brennan sighed, lifting his hand and letting it hover about an inch away from his eyes. He had a terrible migraine. He rubbed his hand through his hair for what must have been the billionth time that day. "I'm going to keep looking in the Helix. We know that she was here at some point. I'll just go from there."  
  
"OK, Brennan. We're still trying here, but Emma hasn't gotten anything off Lorna yet.  
  
"Maybe that's because Lorna's a psycho," Brennan muttered with a dry, humorless laugh. Suddenly he blurted out the question that had been settling in his stomach ever since Lorna had taken off. "Adam, what if she gets tired of Aisha? You know, like she got tired of me?"  
  
Back at Sanctuary, Adam paled a bit at Brennan's question. "You can't even THINK that now Brennan. Just focus on finding them."  
  
Adam looked over at Emma, who was meditating by the reflecting pool. She looked up worriedly. "Adam, I'm just not getting a lock on her. I can't find her anywhere." She bit her lip.  
  
"Emma, have you tried to get a lock on Aisha? Or just Lorna?" he asked her after a moments thought.  
  
"Well, just Lorna. Do you think I should try Aisha? I mean, she's only a few hours old Adam, I've never tried it with anyone that young before." Emma looked at their leader, a little doubtful.  
  
"Just try, Emma. It's a long shot, but we have to try everything, any chance of getting her back." Adam encouraged.  
  
"Well, okay, I'll try." Emma said, still looking doubtful. However, she simply resumed her position and started meditating again.  
  
Lorna was struggling against the guards. Aisha was in another guards arms, crying. Emma reached for her with her mind, but all she got was fear and confusion. Emma sent soothing thoughts to her, and her crying became quieter and less hysterical. Emma knew where she was. She had been here before.  
  
Aisha was at Genomex.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"So, Mr. Evans, all the time and energy we put into training you, hasn't ALL been for nothing. You managed to capture the feral and the child."  
  
"Yes, sir, and with your permission, I would like to be put in charge of guarding them. Mutant X is a force to be reckoned with, and there is no doubt that the elemental will come for the child."  
  
"Of course he will." Eckhart sharply replied. "They always come. That is not the question, Agent Evans. The question is, will you be able to stop them, where so many before you have failed?"  
  
Evans plastered a smile on his face, no more real than the one Eckhart had on his. "I will NOT fail, sir."  
  
Eckhart looked the man up and down, and then gave a curt nod. "Fine. You are in charge of the feral and the child."  
  
Evans nodded to show acknowledgement and turned to leave.  
  
"And Evans?"  
  
The man froze, not turning.  
  
"Remember what will happen if you DO fail." Eckhart was now looking over the stasis pods.  
  
"Understood." He knew perfectly well what happened to agents who had failed Eckhart.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Adam, I got a hit off Aisha. She and Lorna were captured. They're at Genomex."  
  
"Good job, Emma! Contact both Brennan and Shalimar. Tell them what's going on and tell Brennan to get back here. We're going after them."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Brennan," Shalimar started.  
  
"No. We go in NOW. I could care less about Lorna; let her rot in stasis for the rest of her life for what she's done for all I care. Aisha's an innocent, and we need to get her out of that Hell hole!" Brennan exploded.  
  
'Great.' Thought Emma. 'Brennan's snapping at Shalimar now too.' Emma couldn't really blame him. He had only had his precious daughter for a few short hours before losing her, first to Lorna, then to the GSA. And now that he knew where she was, there was nothing that was going to stop him from getting her back.  
  
"The longer we wait, the harder it is going to be to get her out of there! We can't wait anymore!" Brennan yelled at Shalimar.  
  
Emma frowned. A hot-headed Brennan was not going to be helpful right now. She concentrated and implanted feelings of calm and reason in Brennan. It had the desired effect, and now he no longer looked as if he were going to put a hole through the wall. She hated to see him like this, she really did. Brennan was kind of like a surrogate big brother to her, always ready to talk if she needed it, or mess around just because. She had known him long enough and spent enough time in his head to know that Brennan had more layers than an onion.  
  
The top layer was his cocky, Devil-may-care street smart attitude. But under that layer, and not very far under at that, she knew that there was a very vulnerable guy. She didn't know how much more pressure he would be able to take before he simply broke down. She kept sending him calming emotions.  
  
Brennan frowned. Strange, a second ago he had been ready to take the head off the next person to tell him they had to WAIT to go and rescue Aisha, but he seemed to be so much calmer now. The anger and worry was still there of course, and whoever had taken his daughter was still going to die a fried-crispy death, and he still wanted to go and rescue his daughter, but the feelings were calm and manageable. They most certainly weren't the uncontrollable frustration and anxiety of a minute ago. Suddenly he looked at Emma and it clicked.  
  
"Stop meddling in my head Emma." Brennan said, his voice was calm, but it had a steely, don't-push-me-right-now glint to it.  
  
Emma jumped guiltily and blushed. "Brennan, you need to calm down. We're not going to help Aisha if we go into Genomex half-cocked."  
  
"She's right Brennan, and you know it. It's not going to be any help to anyone if we go in blind and get ourselves captured!" Jesse piped up from his position leaning against the dojo wall. "You need to calm down and see reason!"  
  
Brennan didn't want to see reason. He wanted his daughter back and to punish Lorna and those bastards at the GSA for taking her in the first place. "We can't just leave her there!" he snapped at Jesse.  
  
"Of course we can't," Adam's voice came as he climbed the stairs of the dojo, where the four members of his team stood around arguing. "We just can't go in without a plan. So it's a good thing that I just so happen to have one."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
'This is too easy.' That was the first thing that popped into his mind when he glanced around the corner and saw no guards. But the thought didn't make him confident, but cautious. It was just his lifestyle and upbringing. When something appeared to be too good to be true, it usually was because it was. And when things are too easy, start looking for the catch.  
  
If it was a usual situation, he should have run into more guards than the two that he had knocked out, and this wasn't a usual situation. They had a family member of Mutant X, they knew that they'd be coming for her, which means they would increase their security.  
  
So, where the Hell were all the guards?  
  
He was getting a bad feeling about this.  
  
Quickly he contacted Shalimar. "Shal, how many agents have you come across so far?"  
  
"Only three... Why?" Shalimar replied.  
  
"I'm not trying our good fortune or anything... But... Shouldn't there be more than that?"  
  
Adam had anticipated the upped security too. He had had Jesse hack into the GSA's data base and had figured out where Aisha and Lorna were being kept. He had figured the place would be swarming with guards. There was a high possibility of capture, but all the members had insisted on going. They were to split up, enter at different places and take different routes to the place where they were holding Aisha and Lorna. That way, if one of them were discovered, most of the security would swarm to that area, leaving a relatively clear path for the other three.  
  
Or that was the plan, anyway.  
  
But so far, Brennan had only had to deal with a non-mutant guard and one that could phase, like Jesse. He had almost reached his destination. This close to the room he should be up to his eyeteeth in guards. This was making him uneasy.  
  
"Well... Maybe they don't know that WE know that they have them yet. I mean, for all Eckhart knows, we're still out there chasing false leads on Lorna." Shalimar told him through her comm. ring.  
  
That made sense, but it wasn't like Eckhart to make a mistake like that. He would have put the extra security anyway, just in case. Before he could reach the room holding his daughter he ran into another guard. Startled, he used his rocket launchers to fly right over the guy's head. The agent whipped around to face him, pulling his weapon. Too little, too late. Brennan already had his electricity charged and shot it at the agent. The crackling blue electricity hit the agent in the chest and he slammed into the wall behind him before crumpling to the ground, unconscious.  
  
It seemed to Brennan that that should have been harder than it had been. He paused for a moment, looking at the agent in disgust, when the sound of a baby crying reached his ears. His head snapped up. "Aisha..." He ran in the direction of the cries.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Rockergurl; Sorry, not a lot of action in this chapter. It's kind of a 'filler' chapter leading up to all the action. And, I would like to thank my new Beta reader for making this chapter as mistake free as humanly possible. THANK YOU SO MUCH, SHANNON!! You will never know how much help you are. And for being the wonderful Beta reader that you are, I hereby dedicate this chapter to you. 


	8. Resolution

A/N- This is the last chapter. Sigh. I would like to thank all the readers who reviewed, especially Shannon, Ri and Pam. Thanks a bunch!  
  
Disclaimer; No, sadly I still do not own the wonderful Mutant X, because if I did, Shalimar and Brennan sure as hell would have at LEAST kissed by now. Which they HAVEN'T, dammit, so I obviously don't own them. I also don't own the poem that Brennan recites. It's Envoi, by P.H.B. Lyon, and I own no rights to it.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The door was locked. It wasn't anything that Brennan couldn't get past with ten seconds and a paper clip. There was the occasional advantage to being an ex-thief after all. He pushed the door open. Lorna was strapped to a chair, unconscious and bleeding from her mouth. Aisha was in the car seat that Lorna had bought for her on a table. Brennan didn't even look around as he stepped quickly into the room and headed straight for his baby. That was a mistake.  
  
The punch caught hem completely unaware. He recovered quickly and looked for the enemy. He hadn't even checked before going in, a stupid mistake on his part. It was one that could have gotten him killed if this agent had felt compelled to simply shoot him. Brennan shook it off. This particular agent HADN'T felt compelled to simply shoot him and he WASN'T dead, so he wasn't going to dwell on it. You can't go through life with the 'what ifs' and 'might haves' of your life hanging over your head because the possibilities could drive a person insane. He faced off against his enemy, a tall black agent. His electric prod was by his side, but he made no move for it.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Jacob Evans didn't like weapons. Guns or any other, like the cattle prod that he had by his side right now. He could use them, was an excellent shot with the gun, and could easily wield the little sparking stick, but he felt that there was no honor in them. When forced to, he would use the vile things, but he preferred hand to hand combat. It was so much more satisfying to kill your opponents with your bare hands. It was this hatred for guns that had kept him out of the military, from enlisting and becoming a soldier. He drew his weapon and saw the elemental stiffen, ready to dodge or fight should he try to use it. He calmly de-activated the cattle prod and set it on the table. He then face Brennan and raised his hands in a combat position.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Brennan stared at the agent. This guy was weird. He had never faced an agent that had set down their weapons and faced him in a fair fight. He narrowed his eyes and took his own battle stance. There had to be a catch. He was hiding a weapon or something.  
  
The two stood there for a moment, staring at each other, each sizing up his opponent. "Powers only. No weapons," said Evans shortly. Brennan gave a affirmative nod to show that he understood.  
  
At the same moment they both attacked. Evans threw a punch, and immediately Brennan used his rocket launchers to launch himself into a flip over Evans's head. Evans didn't make the same mistake as the last guard and dodged out of the way, Brennan's electricity missing him by mere inches. Brennan wondered if he had been watching the previous fight. Evans and Brennan went at it again, with just their fists this time.  
  
It seemed to Brennan that it was more of an intense sparring match with Jesse than anything else, because neither of them were landing any of their punches. They flew apart, Evans's eyes turning feral and Brennan charging up his electricity. Brennan flung the electricity and Evans used his feral strength to jump straight up in the air, avoiding the attack. He landed right in front of Brennan who responded with a roundhouse kick straight at his head.  
  
For once, it actually connected, although Brennan had only clipped him. It was enough. Brennan took advantage of the agent's momentarily off-balance state and kicked him in the ribs. Evans doubled over, trying to breathe. Brennan charged his electricity one last time and shot it straight at the agent. He was thrown against the wall, and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.  
  
Brennan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Blood was running from it from the initial punch that had caught him off guard entering the room. He was breathing rather hard, but he knew that there was no time to catch his breath. He was going to be swimming in agents in a minute. He rushed over to the still wailing Aisha and scooped her out of the car seat. Almost immediately she calmed down as Brennan held her tightly and rocked her.  
  
"Hey there, baby girl! Don't scare me like that OK?" he scolded her softly.  
  
"Brennan!" he turned around to face a worried looking Shalimar. "We got to go now; this place is crawling with agents! As soon as you got in here they were all over the place! We got to get out of here and NOW would be good!"  
  
"Right!" he called back to her as he placed Aisha back into the car seat. "Let's go!" Both of them ran out into the hall. They met up with Jesse and Emma, who were also running for the exit.  
  
"We'll cover you, you need to get the baby out of here!" Emma gasped as she ran.  
  
"Right!" Brennan yelled back, not willing to argue when his daughter's life was on the line.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(While they were escaping...)  
  
Evans groaned as he woke up. His whole body hurt. He looked up. The child was gone, and so was the father, but the woman remained. Not enough to keep him out of stasis. 'Well, they won't be able to put me into stasis if I'm not here now will they?' he though wryly as he struggled to his feet and limped out. He wouldn't return.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(At Sanctuary...)  
  
Brennan stood, looking down at his little daughter. She was resting peacefully in the cradle Emma and Jesse had brought from one of the safe houses. He felt as though he could stare at her for hours. He heard a noise behind him, but couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from Aisha. He felt Shalimar's slim arms go around his waist and her head rest on his shoulder as she stood behind him and also gazed down at his daughter. "Adam told me to give you this," she said, slipping a piece of paper from her hand to his.  
  
He looked down at it. "What is it?" he asked absent mindedly.  
  
"Her birth certificate," she replied.  
  
He opened it and looked at it for a long moment.  
  
"Aisha Abigail Mulwray," he smiled at Shalimar as he read the name aloud. He then glanced at the spaces for 'Mother's name' and 'Father's name'. He frowned. "Shal, I've been thinking. Do you think that I'm being fair to Aisha?"  
  
"What do you mean, Brennan?" Shalimar looked up at him with a confused look.  
  
"What I mean is, do you think that I'm being fair to her. I'm sentencing her to a life without a mother, a life of running and hiding. I don't know if I'm ready to be the kind of Dad that she deserves, Shalimar."  
  
"Sentencing her? You make it sound like a life with you is a term in prison, Brennan," Shalimar frowned at him.  
  
Before he could answer Aisha started to cry. Brennan immediately scooped her up. "Aww, don't cry, Aisha. What's the matter?" he whispered, rocking her. He looked up at Shalimar. "She just ate, she's not wet, and I don't know what's wrong." Aisha just cried harder. "Shhh. It's alright," he cooed as he continued to rock her and she continued to cry. Brennan felt that he was just proving his point. He couldn't even figure out what was wrong with his daughter, and here he was thinking that he could actually RAISE her?  
  
Brennan wasn't sure what came over him next, but suddenly he started to recite a poem. He wasn't sure why, exactly, other than the fact that poetry had always made him feel better when he was upset. So he just started to say the first thing that came into his head.  
  
Earth puts her colours by,  
  
And veils her in one whispering cloak of shadow;  
  
Green goes from the meadow,  
  
Red leaves and flowers and shining pools are shrouded;  
  
A few stars sail upon a windy sky,  
  
And the moon is clouded.  
  
The delicate music, traced  
  
In and out of the soft lights and the laughter,  
  
Is hushed, round ledge and rafter  
  
The last faint echoes of silence creeping;  
  
The harp is mute, the violins encased,  
  
And the singers sleeping:  
  
So, now my songs are done,  
  
Leave me to-night awhile and the starlight gleaming,  
  
To silence and sweet dreaming,  
  
Here where no music calls, no beauty shakes me;  
  
Till in my heart the birds sing to the sun  
  
And the new dawn wakes me.  
  
The poem ended, and Aisha's cries had long since stopped, and she was now peacefully sleeping in her father's arms. Brennan grinned triumphantly.  
  
"Brennan, if you had just seen yourself, you would have known, without the slightest doubt that that girl belongs right here with you." Brennan blinked in surprise, and looked up at Shalimar. She was looking straight back at him, with tears glistening in her eyes.  
  
"Do you really think so?" he asked unsurely, looking at the sleeping baby in his arms.  
  
"Absolutely." And sure enough, there wasn't the slightest bit of doubt in her voice.  
  
Brennan settled Aisha back into the cradle and took Shalimar into his arms. "Well, if you say so."  
  
"I do." She wet her lips, and then gazed hungrily at his. He leaned fore ward and...  
  
The door opened.[1]  
  
Adam was standing there, and the two quickly broke apart. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked in an amused voice. The two just shook their heads and glared at him. "Well, then, I need to know what it is that you want to do, Brennan. Are you going to keep the baby?"  
  
"Yes," Brennan said determinedly. If Shalimar believed that he could do it, well, then, so did he.  
  
"Then you have two choices. Stay here at Sanctuary and become a slightly less ACTIVE member for awhile, or, I can put you two into the underground. What will it be?"  
  
Brennan looked at Shal, who met his gaze full on. "I'd like to stay here. With my family," he said, gaze never straying from the love of his life.  
  
"We were hoping you would say that!" chirped Emma and Jesse from behind Adam with a matching set of grins. Brennan slid his arm through Shalimar's waist and pulled her closer to him.  
  
"Me too," Shalimar added, grinning up at him.  
  
Brennan grinned back at his friends. "You thought I'd leave all this fun behind? No way!" he joked.  
  
And, although no one noticed, down in the cradle, Aisha waved her tiny hands through the air, leaving trails of electricity, as her brown eyes glowed a feral yellow.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
THE END!!  
  
[1] Why yes, I am evil! Why do you ask?  
  
Rockergurl; I'm done my very first fic! SWEET!  
  
Kitta Cat; Joy. This hasn't been TOO painful. .... Well, actually, yes, it has.  
  
Rockergurl; Aw, it wasn't THAT bad.  
  
Kitta Cat; Compared to the fic your CURRENTLY working on, no, it wasn't that bad.  
  
Rockergurl; Oh, shut up. 


End file.
